Get to know SFS of XJTU! As a century-old and one of the most academically diverse schools of foreign studies in northwestern China, SFS is committed to pushing the boundaries of what is understood about foreign language studies, and is dedicated to fostering the next generation of rigorous and empathetic thinkers, creators, and contributors to the community, the nation, and the world.
The history of SFS traces to 1897, just one year after the foundation of the university in Shanghai as Nanyang Mission College, which was then reinstituted as Chiao Tung University in 1928.
Following a 100-year journey of progress, today’s SFS is authorized to offer Ph.D. programs in Foreign Language and Literature and in Systemics of Language and Culture, and master’s programs in Foreign Language and Literature. It also runs a Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) program (English, Japanese) and a Master of International Education of Chinese Language program. SFS offers 3 undergraduate programs: English (subordinate fields including: English & German, English & French, English & Russian, and Language Data Science), Japanese (subordinate fields including: Japanese, Japanese & English), and French. The English and Japanese undergraduate programs have been included in the National First-Class Undergraduate Programs, and the French program has been designated as a Provincial First-Class Undergraduate Program.
At SFS, you will meet a devoted faculty and staff team consisting 182 members, including 168 teachers (24 professors, and 86 associate professors). We have 96 teachers who are responsible for the university’s undergraduate and post-graduate English teaching. Each year, we have approximately 30 overseas experts and teachers working at SFS, and additional 20 visiting or part-time professors.
Most of our highly-skilled language teaching and research staff work in the following sections: English Department, Japanese Department, French Department, Russian and German Department, College English Teaching Center, Postgraduate English Teaching Center, Foreign Languages Research Center, MTI Education Center, Center for International Education of Chinese Language, Japanology Research Center, Center for Transcultural Studies, and other supporting centers such as the Center for Translation and Interpreting, the Language Training Center, and the Teaching Experiment Center.
Currently, SFS is holding about 400 undergraduates, 200 master’s students, and 40 doctoral students.
The teaching faculty at SFS is highly research-active, passing on their passion and expertise that gained us 71 prizes in national and provincial teaching competitions. We have 5 state-level and 7 provincial-level first-class courses, and 2 premier teaching teams and 2 provincially accredited premier teachers. You’ll find many of them actively engaged in conferences, workshops, and public lectures, and they frequently appear in the media.
In SFS we focus on the discipline construction by continuously elevating the quality of education and research. We are dedicated to fostering strong, mutually beneficial relationships between the university and society. In the last five years, SFS’s faculty members have been leading 1 National Key Research and Development Program, 4 key projects and 23 regulatory projects sponsored by the National Social Science Fund, and 55 ministerial/provincial-level projects. The contracted research funds of SFS have been granted 25.84 million yuan. The faculty of SFS has published 49 monographs, 74 textbooks and 234 papers in SSCI/CSSCI-indexed journals, and has won 4 provincial-level awards in Philosophy and Social Science Research. In addition, 220 policy suggestions proposed by the faculty members on major social issues have been accepted by national or provincial/ministerial-level departments.
In SFS, students enjoy a supportive community atmosphere and have the chance to develop their original ideas. SFS maintains close cooperation with over 100 overseas universities and a great number of internationally renowned scholars. In the past couple of years, SFS has organized 5 international academic conferences, 6 domestic academic conferences, and over 200 lectures, workshops, and other academic activities, with over 200 experts being invited from home and abroad. The Foreign Language and Culture Forum is a well-acknowledged brand of academic lecture series of SFS.
SFS possesses a number of research platforms, including the Provincial Key Laboratory of AI-empowered Language & Culture Research, the Shaanxi Provincial Talent Base for Language, Culture and International Exchange, and the Direct Report Work Station to the National Ethnic Affairs Commission of China. Powered by these platforms, the impact of SFS is felt both locally and nationally.
In SFS we have a faculty team au fait with technologies in our well-equipped laboratories, taping studios, and classrooms with advanced recording, broadcasting, multimedia, and simultaneous interpretation training systems. We have also rich online resources for language studies, along with a library with over 30,000 relevant books and core academic journals.
SFS was relocated in the Shaw Building (Xingqing Campus) in 2010, and established the XJTU Center for International Studies (CIS) at iHarbour in 2019, with many of the teaching and research activities carried out there.
